The road was sparsely guarded.
The few sentries could be easily bypassed without much trouble.
The journey had been relatively smooth so far, as most ninja were focused on dealing with Minato, Kakashi, and the five Anbu ninja further back.
Raj could offer no assistance.
He had a patient to protect and needed to escort Rin out of the Land of Wind.
If he left Rin's side and was ambushed, everything would be lost.
This area wasn't yet the Land of Fire but the Land of Rivers.
While the Land of Rivers was home to many Sunagakure ninja, there were also numerous Konoha ninja hiding in the shadows.
Since Obito's injury was merely a torn ligament, they decided not to return to the Land of Fire.
"Meow~ We've reached the Land of Rain. Let's heal Obito first."
Raj led them on a long run until they reached a narrow gorge.
They had passed through this area while escorting Amegakure Ninja earlier, making it relatively safe and sheltered from the heavy rain.
Venturing further would expose them to both the downpour and numerous Amegakure Ninja patrols.
"This cat... I'm... I'm going ahead now."
Matatabi was utterly exhausted.
He began to miss his carefree life in the Tenshu Pavilion, before Raj had entered the picture.
Back then, he could do whatever he pleased; now, he had to do whatever Raj wanted.
Life was hard, and the Cat King she'd a tear.
"Thank you so much, Shirobai," Rin said, her voice filled with gratitude. "Without your help, Obito and I would never have been able to hold off those squads earlier."
Fortunately, the enemy forces consisted mainly of Low-to-Mid-Rank Ninja teams; the Jonin seemed to have been withdrawn.
"Meow~"
Matatabi raised his paw and beckoned toward Raj.
Rin assumed he was waving goodbye, but Raj knew better: the cat wanted a bag of cat food.
Still, the Two-Tailed Cat had been invaluable to them lately.
A bag of cat food was hardly excessive.
After all, if Rin had summoned him mid-bombardment earlier, they would have been doomed.
So he leaped over and quietly placed a mark on Matatabi's body.
This mark could last for a very long time.
As Matatabi departed, Rin treated her wounds while chatting idly with Raj, mainly to distract herself and avoid falling unconscious.
After a series of battles and medical treatments, her chakra reserves were nearly depleted.
The situation unfolded much as Raj had anticipated.
Obito and Rin had been escaping normally when Chiyo fired a signal flare, causing them to run straight into reinforcements from Sunagakure.
Initially, there were only three or four enemies.
Obito and Rin, both quite fast, managed to hold their own using their speed.
But as more enemies surrounded them...
By the time Rin finished treating her wounds, she herself succumbed to unconsciousness.
Raj stared at Obito for a few seconds, then exchanged for a bag of Ninja Cat food.
Using the Flying Thunder God Technique, he teleported the food to Matatabi before feeding himself a bag of special cat food.
The special cat food didn't increase its maximum chakra capacity, but it was highly effective at restoring chakra and stamina.
After waiting for a while, until its chakra had recovered to about seventy or eighty percent, five Anbu ninjas and Kakashi finally arrived.
"Thank you all," one of the Anbu said.
"If it weren't for your help, the five of us would never have escaped this time."
The five Anbu didn't remove their masks or even reveal their codenames.
"Meow~."
Raj glanced up briefly before returning to his own business, ignoring their attempts to engage him.
Since these individuals were connected to Orochimaru, they likely had ties to Danzo as well.
He had no desire to become entangled with such people.
Uh...
The five exchanged glances.
One of them stepped forward and said with a sigh, "We have a mission and can't stay here long. Please thank Lord Minato for us and tell him we've confirmed that Sunagakure is unaware of the Third Kazekage's whereabouts.
Sasori is suspected to be involved."
"Meow!"
Another cat call.
Clearly, he wasn't interested in conversation.
The other four were unaware, but as their leader, he had obtained all the information on Minato's Team from Orochimaru.
He knew Raj could speak human language and was an exceptionally intelligent Ninja Cat.
Since the cat refused to communicate, he had no choice but to give up.
It wasn't urgent anyway, and the crucial information had already been delivered.
There was no need to meet Minato personally.
The five had been gone for only three or four minutes when Minato arrived with Kakashi, using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
The Flying Thunder God Technique was truly remarkable once you experienced it.
Before using it, Raj had thought that moving at high speed was similar, but after obtaining the technique...
If using the Flying Thunder God Technique for travel hadn't been so conspicuous, Raj wouldn't have bothered walking at all.
It was just too exhilarating!
"Raj."
"They've left, meow. Said they had another mission, but asked me to tell you that the Third Kazekage's disappearance might be related to Sasori."
Raj relayed the message truthfully.
This intelligence was crucial.
Although Konoha had already suspected trouble in Sunagakure, they couldn't confirm it without concrete evidence.
Now, the situation was essentially confirmed.
The Third Kazekage had vanished, and the Missing Ninja Sasori of the Red Sand was likely involved.
Minato, who was primarily responsible for defending against Iwagakure, had limited knowledge of Sunagakure.
Even when Raj mentioned "Sasori," the name didn't ring any bells.
"So it's him."
Kakashi, however, remembered.
Not because he had deliberately tried to memorize it, but because during a past mission, a temporary teammate had mentioned that Sasori's parents had died at the hands of White Fang.
Of course, Kakashi had promptly delivered a "Fist of Loving Discipline" to his teammate.
White Fang was his forbidden topic, and he loathed anyone bringing it up.
"Even though this has nothing to do with Konoha... never mind, let's not dwell on that. How are Obito and Rin? Are they alright?" Minato asked anxiously.
"They're fine, meow~," Raj yawned, feigning exhaustion, then glanced pointedly at Kakashi, Minato, Obito, and Rin, his meaning unmistakable.
How should they divide the tasks and where should they go next?
"Our mission is complete, but..." Minato hesitated.
If they hadn't encountered Akatsuki, they could have returned immediately.
But since they had met and formed an alliance, they couldn't just leave.
Moreover, Akatsuki might possess information they still needed.
"We're heading to the Land of Rain to find Yahiko and the others. Kakashi, are you up for it?"